Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto has pledged to continue weeding out corruption and institutionalizing good governance during his second three-year term.
Sotto renewed his commitment following the arrest of a city hall employee and his cohort for alleged robbery-extortion.
“In the last three years, we have started to de-normalize corruption and institutionalize good governance in our local government. A tiring and mostly thankless job, but we guarantee that in the next three years, we will push harder and do even better,” Sotto said in a Twitter post on Friday.
According to the police report, the suspects were caught in an entrapment operation while receiving the P600,000-bribe money inside a fast-food chain along Caruncho Ave. in Barangay Malinao on Friday.
They will be charged with robbery, extortion, as well as violation of Republic Acts 9485 (Anti-Red Tape Act) and 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Law).
Based on initial investigation, the complainant applied for a permit at the Office of the Building Official, but lacked some documents.
One of the suspects introduced himself as an employee of the city’s Business Permits and Licensing Office and offered speedy processing of his application for building and occupancy permits and electrical installation, among others, in exchange for P600,000.
Policemen recovered a bundle of money amounting to P500,000 used in the operation, including the marked P1,000 bill and a mobile phone.
Police said the suspect’s accomplice offered to turn state witness in subsequent prosecution of the case.
The Pasig city government also charged three employees in October 2020 for stealing almost P1 million in salaries for ghost employees and for extortion.
Pasig celebrated its 449th anniversary on Saturday with the opening of five newly constructed school buildings, holding a jobs fair participated in by 50 private and government companies at the Pasig City Sports Complex, distributing Philippine Health Insurance Corp. membership cards at the Rizal Technological University, and offering free flu vaccination for persons with disabilities and senior citizens at the Pasig City Mega Parking.